Apparatus for propelling railroad cars and the like



April 28, 1970 w. H. COLLINS APPARATUS FOR PROPELLING RAILROAD cARs AND THE LIKE 2 Sheets-Sheet, 1

Filed Dec. 30, 1966 Iflu I A A m. I

INVENTOR W/LLYS H. COLL/NS mm QR! mm ,0 X? 7% A 34 ERA/A4444 J J .l V. 1" f/xAa kflfifiw A F A i A .2 A?

A ril 28, 1970 w. H. COLLINS APPARATUS FOR PROPELLING RAILROAD CARS AND THE LIKE 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Dec. 30, 1966 lNVE/VTOR W/LLYS H. COLL/NS FIG? ATT Y United States Patent 3,508,499 APPARATUS FOR PROPELLING RAILROAD CARS AND THE LIKE Willys Howard Collins, Houston, Tex., assignor to FMC Corporation, a corporation of Delaware Filed Dec. 30, 1966, Ser. No. 606,388 Int. Cl. B61j 3/06 US. Cl. 104176 11 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field of the invention This invention relates generally to car haul apparatus and more particularly to new and useful improvements in car haul pusher arm assemblies and control mechanisms therefor.

Description of the prior art Several previous designs of apparatus for spotting rail mounted cars have utilized the same cable for both propelling the traveling body in opposite directions parallel to the tracks and for actuating the car pusher arm assemblies into and out of their engaging position. In this type of design, when the cable is actuated to propel the traveling body, the car pusher arm assemblies are moved to their engaging position. In this position the car pusher arm assemblies will engage the first car they come to, thus preventing the possibility of moving the car haul apparatus in either direction underneath a car or series of cars to pick up another car and position it adjacent the previously positioned car. This difliculty is also encountered with car haul apparatus having car pusher arm assemblies which are spring biased to normally be in their engaging position.

In another design of car haul apparatus, the body runs on a narrow track between the rails for the cars and carries rollers moveable between an inner position in which they clear a car and an outer position in which they will engage the periphery of a Wheel or wheels of the car close above the rails from behind and from in front so that the car can be moved in opposite directions by movement of the body. In this design the height of the tops of the rollers above the rails for the cars must be limited so that the rollers will clear brake shoes and links with allowance being made for depression of the car body due to loading. The difficulty encountered in this design is that the rollers exert a greater vertical force than a horizontal force. Thus to avoid derailment of the car, the horizontal force must be limited to less than a fraction of the weight of the car bearing on the particular wheel engaged by the rollers. If the car is empty but coupled to several loaded cars, then the horizontal force may be less than is required to propel the cars, thus the car may be derailed due to the vertical force upon the wheels.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The car haul apparatus of the present invention includes a traveling body or carriage with car pusher arm assemblies pivotally mounted thereon. Similar to the above described car haul apparatus the present invention includes a cable connected to the carriage for propelling the carriage in opposite directions parallel to the tracks upon 3,508,499 Patented Apr. 28, 1970 which the car is disposed. Unlike previous designs the car haul embodying the present invention includes a control rope, separate from the propelling cable, for moving the car pusher arm from its nonengaging to engaging position. The tension of the control rope is applied in a manner which will allow a car pusher arm assembly in its engaging position to be depressed by, and pass under, a portion of a car when moving in one direction and to engage a portion of the car when moved in the opposite direction. When the tension in the control rope is relaxed the weight of the car pusher arm assemblies, or the force of 'a spring mechanism, will pivot the arms to their nonengaging position, thus allowing the car haul apparatus to be passed in opposite directions underneath a car or series of cars without contacting any downward protruding obstruction such as brake gear, cross bars or hop pers. This is a distinct advantage over prior systems and allows for more versatile application of the car haul apparatus with no damage to the underneath portions of railroad cars or to the car pusher arm assemblies. The present invention also allows a car haul apparatus to be designed with a car pusher arm that will engage the axle or other portion of the car in a manner that will not limit the horizontal force exerted by the weight of the car.

Use of a separate control rope to actuate the car pusher arm also allows a car haul apparatus to be designed with two cooperating arms to impart motion to the railroad car in opposite directions along the track or to both impart motion uphill and to retard motion when traveling downhill. Previous designs utilizing the same rope for propelling the traveling body and actuating the engaging mechanism required a complicated toggle mechanism or included a combination of rollers engaging various portions of the railroad car. The present invention overcomes these limitations and allows a car haul apparatus to be designed with a simple pivoted car pusher arms that will engage the axle and propel the rail mounted car in opposite directions.

It is therefore an object of this invention to provide a car haul apparatus wherein the car pusher mechanism is actuated by a rope separate from the cable used for propelling the carriage of the car haul apparatus.

Another object of this invention is to provide a double arm car pusher assembly including car pusher arms operative in response to the tensioning and the slackening of a separate control cable.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a car pusher assembly including a pair of car pusher arms which when propelled in one direction with the arms in their engaging position will allow the leading arm to pass under a portion of a railroad car and will allow the trailing arm to engage the railroad car thus trapping the car between the arms.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a car pusher apparatus that can be moved underneath a rail mounted car or series of rail mounted cars in either direction without contacting the underneath portion of the cars.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide a car pusher assembly having a pair of liftable arms actuated by a separate control cable to engage and trap the axle of a rail mounted car therebetween for movement of the car in opposite directions upon the track.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent during the course of the following description.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS In the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification and in which like reference characters are employed to designate like parts throughout:

FIGURE 1 is a plan view of the car haul and control apparatus of the present invention;

FIGURE 2 is an enlarged sectional view, partially broken away, taken on line 22 of FIG. 1 in the direction indicated and illustrating in phantom the car pusher arm assembly in its inoperative position;

FIGURE 3 is a vertical sectional view taken on line 3--3 of FIG. 2 and showing the pusher arm in its down position;

FIGURE 4 is an enlarged fragmentary perspective view of one of the pusher arm assemblies of the present invention;

FIGURE 5 is a sectional view of the channel which guides the path of movement of an apparatus embodying the present invention;

FIGURE 6 is an elevational view of the pusher arm control apparatus employed as a part of the invention; and

FIGURE 7 is another embodiment of the pusher arm control apparatus of the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT In the drawings, wherein for the purpose of illustration is shown the preferred embodiments of the invention, and first particularly referring to FIGS. 1, 2, and 3, reference character 11 refers generally to a car haul apparatus. The car haul apparatus 11 includes a car haul assembly 12 slidably positioned within a guide channel 14 which is arranged in parallel relationship with and positioned between rails 16 and 17 of track 18. The track 18 is parallel with and adjacent the loading dock 20. The car haul assembly 12 is adapted to engage a truck 19 (shown in phantom) of a boxcar (not shown) disposed on the track 18.

The double arm car haul assembly 12 includes two pusher arm assemblies 22 and 24 joined by a pivotal link 25. Each of the assemblies 22 and 24 is provided with a car pusher arm 26 which is mounted for pivotal movement between an operative and inoperative position, as seen in FIG. 2. The operative positions of the car pusher arms 26 are their upward positions allowing a portion each arm to engage an axle 27 of the truck 19. A cable 28 has its opposite end portions connected to the pusher arm assemblies 22 and 24 and is trained around pulleys 29 and 31 to a take-up apparatus 32 located remotely from the pusher assembly 12. The cable 28 is of a rela tively heavy gauge and is provided to propel the car pusher assemblies 22 and 24 in the desired direction to move a car (not shown) disposed upon the track 18 along the dock 20 to a predetermined position. The apparatus utilized to actuate cable 28 is a standard traction type double drum puller which is old in the art and a further description thereof is deemed unnecessary to the dis closure of the present invention.

A control rope 34, of a smaller gauge than the cable 28, has its opposite end portions connected to the pusher arms 26 of the assemblies 22 and 24, as seen in FIG. 2. Tensioning of the rope 34 is accomplished by means of the pusher arm control assembly 36, two embodiments of which are shown in FIGS. 6 and 7 and will be hereinafter described in detail. The cable 28 and rope 34 and the pusher arm assemblies 22 and 24 are respectively encased in the guide channel 14 in fixed space relationship to the track 18. The channel 14 is supported in position adjacent the track 18 by the angularly disposedbraces 41.

Referring now specifically to FIGS. 3 and 5, reference character 14 refers generally to the guide channel within which the car haul assemblies'22 and 24 travel. The channel 14 is formed with a horizontal base member 42 and upwardly extending parallel side members 43 which are perpendicular to the base. The parallel side members 43 are in a spaced relationship to receive car pusher assemblies 22 and 24 therebetween and restrict their sideward movement thus guiding them parallel to the track 18. Along the upper edge of the side members 43 are outwardly extending flanges 44 parallel to the base 42. Each of the flanges 44 have a row ofspaced apertures 45 to receive bolt fasteners 46.

Wear bars 47 are mounted longitudinally along the base 42 adjacent side members 43. The wear plates, upon which the car pusher assemblies 22 and 24 slide, are preferably made of a highly wear resistant material. It is understood that the car pusher apparatus could be mounted on rollers. Retaining plates 51, which are elongated rectangular members have apertures 52 corresponding to apertures 45 in the flanges 44 so that they may be fastened by means of bolt assemblies 46 to the flanges to facilitate their as sembly and disassembly. The distance between the base member 42 and the flange 44 is designed so that the retaining plates 51 will prevent the car pusher assemblies 22 and 24 from being removed or forced out of the top of the channel during the operation of the car pusher ap paratus. The retaining plates 51 also define a "slot 55 through which the car pusher arms 26 extend so that they may engage the truck 19 of a railroad car.

FIG. 4 illustrates a perspective view of car pusher assembly 22. It will be understood that car pusher arm assemblies 22 and 24 are identical in structure but oppositely positioned and linked together to trap the truck of the railroad car therebetween and move the latter in opposite directions. The pusher arm assembly 22 includes a carriage formed of parallel bars 61 and 62 joined in a spaced relationship by link 25 and cable fastener 63. Link 25 is pivotally connected to the parallel bars 61 and 62 by means of pin 64. In a like manner cable fastener 63 is pivotally connected to the parallel bars 61 and 62 by means of pin 65. The pusher arm 26 is pivotally connected to the pusher arm carriage by pin 66 which extends between the parallel Ibars 61 and 62. A casing 67 is disposed between the bars 61 and 62 and fixed thereto by brazing or the like. The casing 67 adds to the rigidity of the carriage.

The control rope 34 has one of its end portions connected to pusher arm 26 at point 68 located adjacent the pivot pin 66 so that tensioning of the control rope 34 causes the pusher arm 26 to pivot from its downward position to its upward most position. Upward movement of the arm 26 is restricted by the forward edges of the casing 67. In its upward most position the pusher arm 26 will engage the axle 27 of truck 19 of the railroad car disposed on the track 18. The connecting point 68 is located so that upon releasing the tension in the control rope 34 the weight of the arm 26 causes the arm to descend downward to its inoperative position. If necessary, additional downward force may be added to the arms by springs (not shown). In the inoperative position the car pusher assemblies 22 and 24 are able to pass under one or a series of railroad cars without interfering with any downward extending portion such as brake gear, cross bars or hoppers. This feature of the invention enables a car pusher assembly to be utilized for versatile maneuvering and positioning of cars.

The arm 26 has an elongated body portion 71 and an outward extending portion 72 upon which the arm pivots when the control rope 34 is tensioned. A pair of spaced rollers 73 are rotatably mounted upon the upwardly extending end portion of the body member 71 and held in place by pins 74. When the car pusher arm 26 is in its operative or engaging position the spaced rollers will engage the axle 27 of the car to be moved.

With the arms 26 in their upward position, movement of the car pusher assemblies 22 and 24 underneath a car disposed on track 18 will depress the leading arm allowing it to pass under the axle. When the leading arm 26 has cleared the axle it will return to its engaging position and trap the truck 19 between the two arms.

Opposite end portions of the continuous control rope 34 are connected to car pusher means 26 in the manner described above. Illustrated in FIG. 6 is one embodiment of the control rope actuation assembly 36 of the instant invention. As seen in FIG. 6 the control rope is trained around two pulleys 77 and 78 and then looped around a third pulley 79 which is shiftable alternately toward and away from pulleys 77 and 78. As the pulley 79 is moved away from pulleys 77 and 78 control rope 34 is taken up and the tension thereof increased above a predetermined value causing arms 26 to pivot to their engaging position as illustrated in FIGS. 2 and 4.

A separate, relatively short cable 88 has one end portion connected to the shiftable pulley 79 and its other end portion connected to a counterweight 87. The cable 88 is trained over a rotatable pulley 84, which is described in detail below. The counterweight 87 maintains a minimum tension on control rope 34 and compensates for the frictional pull on the control rope created when the cable 28 moves the assemblies 22 and 24. The counterweight also compensates for any stretch of the control rope due to usage. The additional tension required to lift the arm 26 is provided by means of the air motor 80. Sprocket 82 is connected by roller chain 91 to sprocket 83 which is fixedly mounted on the same shaft 92 as pulley 84. The roller chain 91 would normally have slack which would be removed by adding pressure to the end of the cylinder 85 of the air motor 80 to cause piston rod 81 to travel inwardly. With the slack taken up, roller chain 91 will rotate pulley 84 in a direction to advance cable 88 downward and move pulley 79 away from pulleys 77 and 78 thus adding tension to control rope 34 and causing arms 26 to pivot to their engaging positions.

The air motor 80 is equipped with a pressure relief valve which will lower the cylinder pressure by bleeding air from the cylinder 85 when the piston rod 81 is positioned to raise the arms 26 and a force is applied thereto causing the piston rod to move outwardly from the cylinder thus raising the air pressure in the cylinder beyond a predetermined value. Upon relaxation of the outward force air is added to the cylinder to return the air pressure to the value prior to the application of the force and return the piston rod 81 to its inward position.

To engage a car the car pusher assemblies 22 and 24 are moved toward the car to be engaged with the arms 26 in their engaging position. The back side 95 of the leading arm 26 contacts the axle 27 causing a downward force to be applied to the arm. The downward force on the arm 26 is transmitted through the control rope 34 and control assembly 36 producing an outward force on the piston rod 81. The outward force on the piston rod 81 increases the pressure in cylinder 85 as described above. The pressure relief valve then bleeds olf the excess pressure allowing the leading arm 26 to be pivoted downwardly and pass under the axle. When the leading arm 26 clears the axle 27 the pressure in the cylinder 85 advances the piston rod 81 inwardly thus returning the arms 26 to their engaging position. With the arms 26 now in their engaging position the trailing arm engages the axles 27 and traps it between the two arms.

FIG. 7 illustrates another embodiment of control cable actuating assembly 37. In this embodiment control rope 34 is looped around a shiftable pulley 96 which is directly connected to reciprocating piston rod 97 by means of turnbuckle assembly 98. The function of the turnbuckle assembly 98 is to adjust the initial tension in the control rope 34 and to compensate for any stretch of the control rope due to wear. Upon actuation of the air motor 100 in a manner to cause piston rod 97 to move inwardly of cylinder 99, which is fastened to a suitable support 101, the pulley 96 travels in a direction to add a sufficient amount of additional tension to control rope 34 to raise car pusher arms 26. Upon movement of piston rod 97 outwardly of the cylinder 99 the tension in control rope 34 will be returned to its initial value and will allow car pusher arms 26 to descend to their nonengaging position. In their downward position car pusher assemblies 22 and 2 4 may be moved underneath railroad cars disposed upon track 18 without interfering with any downwardly projecting protrusions.

The air motor 100 is equipped with a pressure relief valve similar to the one previously described for air motor 80. In the manner described above the pressure relief valve allows the leading arm 26 to be depressed by the axle 27 and return to its engaging position upon clearing the axle thus trapping the axle between the two arms.

It is to be understood that the form of this invention herewith shown and described is to be taken as a preferred example of the same, and that various changes in the shape, size, and arrangement of parts may be resorted to without departing from the spirit of the invention.

Having thus described the invention, I claim:

1. Apparatus for moving wheeled cars along parallel rails comprising:

guide means extending parallel to and disposed between the rails;

a carriage mounted for movement along the guide means, said carriage comprising for elongated bars arranged into two axially aligned pairs of spaced parallel bars and a link connecting adjacent end portions of the four bars;

means operable to move the carriage in opposite directions along the guide means;

at least one car pusher arm mounted on the carriage for movement therewith and for pivotal movement relative thereto in a substantially vertical plane alternately between a car engaging and a nonengaging position; and

control means operatively connected to the arm for the pivoting thereof, the control means being independent of the means operable to move the carriage.

2. Apparatus as defined in claim 1 further characterized by the means operable to move the carriage comprising:

cable means attached to opposite end portions of the carriage; and

means for actuating the cable means in reverse directions for moving the carriage in opposite directions along the guide means.

3. Apparatus as defined in claim 1 further characterized by:

a first car pusher arm mounted between one pair of spaced parallel bars for movement therewith and pivotal movement relative thereto in a substantially vertical plane, the first car pusher arm being adapted when in its upward most position to engage the car and move the latter in one direction upon movement of the carriage in that direction;

a second car pusher mounted between the other pair of spaced parallel bars for movement therewith and pivotal movement relative thereto in a substantially vertical plane, the second car pusher arm being adapted when in its upward most position to engage the car and move the latter in a direction opposite to the movement imparted by the first arm when the carriage travels in said opposite direction.

4. Apparatus as defined in claim 3 wherein the control means comprises:

a continuous control rope having one end portion attached to each of the car pusher arms so that upon increasing the tension of the rope beyond a predetermined value the arms will pivot from their nonengaging to engaging positions and will return to their nonengaging positions upon decreasing the tension below the predetermined value; and

means for alternately increasing or decreasing the tension of the rope.

5. Apparatus as defined in claim 4 wherein the means for alternately increasing or decreasing the tension of the rope comprises:

a plurality of pulleys around which the continuous control rope is trained;

one of the pulleys being shiftable alternately in a direction to increase or a direction to decrease the tension in the control rope;

means urging the shiftable pulley in a direction to normally maintain a tension in the control rope less than that necessary to pivot the car pusher arm to its engaging position; and

means associated with the means for maintaining tension in the control rope for selectively increasing the tension to pivot the car pusher arms to their engaging positions.

6. Apparatus as defined in claim further characterized by the means for maintaining tension in the control rope comprising:

a rope separate from the control rope and having one end portion connected to the shiftable pulley; and

biasing means connected to the other end portion of the separate rope for urging the shiftable pulley in a direction to normally maintain a tension in the control rope less than the predetermined tension necessary to pivot the car pusher arms to the engaging position; and

the means for selectively increasing the tension in the control rope comprising:

a fluid pressure operated device operably connected to the separate rope for selectively increasing the tension in the control rope a sufiicient amount above the normally maintained tension to pivot the car pusher arms to their engaging positions. 7. Apparatus as defined in claim 4 further characterized by the means for alternately increasing or decreasing the tension of the rope comprising:

a plurality of pulleys around which the control rope is trained;

one of the pulleys being shiftable alternately in a direction to increase or a direction to decrease the tension in the rope;

a fluid pressure operated device operably connected to the shiftable pulley for displacing the latter in opposite directions to alternately increase or decrease the tension in the control rope.

8. Apparatus as defined in claim 7 further characterized by the fluid pressure operated device including:

a pressure relief valve to allow a car pusher arm moving in one direction in its engaging position to be pivoted toward its nonengaging position allowing the arm to pass under a downward projecting portion of a car without damage to the arm and also to allow the arm to return to its engaging position upon clear- 8 ing the downward projecting portion of the car so that the arm will be adapted to engage the car when moving in a direction opposite to the last mentioned direction.

9. Apparatus for moving wheeled cars along parallel rails comprising:

guide means extending parallel to and disposed between the rails;

a carriage mounted for longitudinal movement along the guide means;

means operable to move the carriage in opposite directions along the guide means a pair of opposed car pusher arms spaced along said carriage, said arms being mounted on the carriage for movement therewith and for pivotal movement relative thereto in a substantially vertical plane alternately between car engaging and nonengaging positions; and

control means extending along said guide means to a point remote from said carriage and being operatively connected to the arms for pivoting each of the same between said positions, said control means being independent of the means operable to move the carriage and being operable at said remote point to pivot said pusher arms between said positions.

10. Apparatus as set forth in claim 9 wherein said control means includes an elongated flexible control element having one of its ends connected to one of said arms and its opposite end connected to the other of said arms. 11. Apparatus as set forth in claim 10 wherein the control means includes means coupled with said control element for tensioning the same to simultaneously pivot said arms into their car engaging position.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,125,110 1/1915 Jones 104--176 335,553 2/1886 Wright 104194 3,141,420 7/1964 Garbers 104--26 3,348,498 10/ 1967 Ames 104-176 FOREIGN PATENTS 287,036 9/1915 Germany. 518,799 3/ 1931 Germany.

ARTHUR L. LA POINT, Primary Examiner 

